1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to multistreaming audio. More particularly, embodiments of the present invention relate to a user interface for multistreaming audio control.
2. Description of the Related Art
Advances in digital technology and multimedia technology have allowed people to enjoy unprecedented high-definition (HD) video and audio.
Audio technology has evolved from mono audio into stereo audio and from stereo audio into multichannel audio. Such evolution allows us to enjoy more realistic audio. Multistreaming audio is a recent audio technology and much research has been conducted in this field.
HD Audio, recently released by Intel Corporation, is an audio interface that replaces conventional audio architectures such as AC'97, and provides functions for multistreaming.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a computer for conventional multistreaming audio. The computer includes a central processing unit (CPU) 110, a memory controller 120, a memory 130, and a HD audio controller 140. The CPU 110 and the memory controller 120 are connected through a host bus, and the memory controller 120 and the memory 130 are connected through a memory bus. The memory controller 120 and the HD audio controller 140 are connected through a system bus, e.g., a peripheral component interface (PCI) bus.
The HD audio controller 140 is connected to a plurality of HD audio codecs 150 through an audio bus and provides multistreaming audio service. Converters 160 convert an analog audio signal into a digital audio signal and transmit the digital audio signal to the HD audio codecs 150 or receive a digital audio signal from the HD audio codecs 150 and convert the received digital audio signal into an analog audio signal. The HD audio codecs 150 compress a digital audio signal through digital compression or decompress compressed digital audio data into a digital audio signal.
FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a computer system having two audio panels. The computer 200 has two audio panels; a front panel 210 and a rear panel 220. The front panel 210 provides an audio terminal on the front of a case of the computer 200. A user may connect an earphone, a headphone, or other output device to the audio terminal provided by the front panel 210 to listen to audio content, such as music or news. The rear panel 220 provides an audio terminal on the rear of the case of the computer 200. The audio terminal provided on the rear panel 220 may be connected to a speaker or other output device.
Since multistreaming is provided in the computer 200, the user can listen to reproduced audio files through the front panel 210 and/or the rear panel 220. For example, while the audio of a film is being output through a speaker connected to the rear panel 220, the user may listen to music through a headphone connected to the front panel 210.
To enjoy multistreaming sound, users usually have to go through complex procedures. For example, to run content through different panels in a computer using a Windows operating system (OS), a user must perform a number of complex operations. The user first opens a control panel and then double-clicks on a sound and audio device icon with a mouse to open a sound and audio device configuration window. After clicking on an audio tab in the sound and audio device configuration window with the mouse, the user selects a default device from a sound play menu among menus provided in the audio tab. The default device may be a rear panel audio and a front panel audio. If the user desires to listen to contents through the rear panel audio, the user selects the rear panel audio. If the user desires to listen to contents through the front panel audio, the user selects the front panel audio. Such a complicated setting procedure may discourage users from using multistreaming.